Flags lowered to honor war casualty

September 01, 2011

Flags lowered to honor war casualty

Under a proclamation signed by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, the United States flag and the Illinois flag are to be at half-staff at all State of Illinois facilities in honor of soldier killed last week in Afghanistan.

Flags are to be flown at half-staff from sunrise, Saturday, Sept. 3, until sunset, Monday, Sept. 5, in honor of U.S. Army Sgt. Andrew R. Tobin of Jacksonville.

Reports said Tobin, 24, also formerly of Mount Vernon, died Aug. 24 when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.

Tobin graduated from Manteno High School in 2005.  He joined the Army in January 2008, and was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan; his latest deployment began in March.  Tobin was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y.